Originally Posted by
taz777
£20/£30 is probably a budget for one light: front or rear. Spend more on the front, i would say. The rear doesn’t need to light the road up, it just needs to warn drivers behind you.
Agreed.
Originally Posted by
taz777
However, the front may need to light up the road ahead, although the extent of this depends on the types of roads you’ll be riding on. If they have street lighting then you probably don’t want the brightest light possible, but more of a ‘be seen’ type of light. If you ride on unlit cycle paths and roads then you’ll need to light up the road ahead for a reasonable distance. Also, don’t forget the light spread to light up the sides of the road.
I can't agree here, however. Road and urban riding require
more light, not less. Your lights are competing with hundreds of different light sources per block. You may not need as much light to
see the road but you need far more light to
be seen. The worst thing to happen to you is to become invisible in a sea of light.
I blaze as much light as I can when on the road. I
want the drivers to be confused at to what I am and, more importantly, to as how much of a threat I am to them. If they think that I'm a train off the tracks or a giant truck or a cyclops bus, it makes them think for a moment before they pull out in front of me. I don't want cause them any harm, just confuse them as to what I really am. A little "be seen" light in an ocean of other lights is just too hard to miss and the next thing you know your third dimension is voided.
You don't want your third dimension voided.
On the other hand, on an unlighted cycle path...which I don't usually ride at night because it's rude to do so...you generally need a little less light. You only need to see where you are going but you don't really need the light to serve as a warning. For the tiny amount if cycle path riding I do on a commute, I will power down one or two lights. I generally leave my helmet light on but turn it away from pedestrians as soon as I see them.